"Created by artist Jeff Gipe, the life-size "Cold War Horse" wears a gas mask and red hazmat suit. It's a tribute to the workers who cleaned up the nearby Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.
Cold War Horse
In Arvada stands the "Cold War Horse," fitted with a red hazmat suit, goggles, and a respirator. The memorial was created to acknowledge the history of Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant and the dangers the Rocky Flats workers faced. An estimated of 70,000 plutonium triggers were produced at the plant which operated from 1952 to 1992. The horse was vandalized in September 2015. It is now protected inside a fenced-off plot of private land.
[John Todesco, 05/08/2016]
Unveiled in Aug. 2015, it was smashed by sledge hammers two weeks later. Artist Jeff Gipe repaired the horse and re-erected it inside a protective fence." (from (
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"Cold War Horse sculpture near former Rocky Flats in Arvada vandalized
Statue was installed along State Highway 72 just two weeks ago
By John Aguilar, The Denver Post, 09/08/2015
ARVADA — A conspicuous-looking sculpture of a horse wearing a red hazmat suit, goggles and a respirator that was installed two weeks ago on the outskirts of the former Rocky Flats nuclear trigger plant was knocked over and damaged Monday night.
Artist Jeff Gipe, who grew up just miles from the former plant but now lives in New York City, said the act of vandalism happened sometime Monday night.
"The sculpture was pulled out of the ground with a truck, then it was beaten with a sledgehammer," Gipe wrote in an e-mail. "The damage is really extensive."
Cold War Horse, created by Gipe as a visible symbol of the danger that Rocky Flats workers faced in the decades before the plant's closure in the 1990s, had been looking for a home since Gipe finished it in December 2013.
It was erected Aug. 25 inside a fenced-off plot of private land on the south side of Colorado 72, a few hundred yards west of Indiana Street.
Gipe, whose father worked at Rocky Flats for 20 years, said the damage to the sculpture was bad enough that he will have to take the artwork in for repairs, which could take months.
A dedication ceremony for Cold War Horse will go on as planned Oct. 18, featuring Jon Lipsky, a former FBI agent who led the raid on Rocky Flats in 1989. Gipe was not certain whether the horse would be present for the dedication or when it might retake its roadside spot.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is working on leads to find out who vandalized the sculpture, Gipe said." (from (
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A downloadable video of the installation may be found on the artist's website at (
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The memorial reads:
October 18, 2015 'COLD WAR HORSE' Created by Jeff Gipe
This memorial was created to acknowledge the history of Rocky Flats, its
workers, and the surrounding community.
Rocky Flats was a nuclear weapons production facility that had a huge influence
during the Cold War. For nearly forty years, the plant manufactured
the plutonium triggers for nearly every nuclear weapon in the United States arsenal.
It's estimated that 70,000 plutonium triggers were produced at this plant.
Plutonium is a highly toxic and radioactive substance, and special precautions
had to be taken. Routine operations and accidents contaminated the soil, water,
and air in surrounding areas with radioactive and toxic materials.
After a second major plutonium fire in 1969, the second largest plutonium fire at
the facility, citizen protests gained momentum and urged Rocky Flats to cease
operations. In 1989, the FBI in conjunction with the EPA, raided the complex in the
first ever inter-governmental raid. Many violations were discovered and
production was halted. The plant's operators later admitted and pleased guilty
to environmental crimes. Soon after the raid, the plant site was put on the EPA
Superfund cleanup list in 1993. The Secretary of Energy announced the end of the
Rocky Flats Nuclear Production Mission.
The original estimate for remediation of the site was in excess of $37 billion and
projected to take 70 years for completion. The Department of Energy and
Kaiser-Hill devised an accelerated compromise that cut costs to $7 billion
and just one decade for completion.
On the dedication of this memorial, 10 years after the "cleanup" of Rocky Flats,
safety concerns still exist due to the remaining contamination and questions the risk.
Nonetheless, the history of this important national and international site, and
the workers who sacrificed so much have yet to be acknowledge by Federal,
State or Local Governments. This memorial stands as a reminder of a history that
we must not forget.
For links to more information on Rocky Flats history, present concerns, and
more, please visit rockyflatsnuclearguardianship.org